Method of assembling lead-in conductor sealed through metallic casing



W. E. BAHLS Feb.14,1939.

METHOD OF ASSEMBLING LEAD-IN CONDUCTOR SEALED THROUGH METALLIC CASING 2 Sheets-Sheet l Original' Filed Oct. 2l

lNvENToR Wa/zerEab/ ATTORNEY Feb. 14, 1939.

METHOD OF ASSEHBLING LEAD-IN CONDUCTOR SEALED THROUGH METALLIC UASING w, E. BAHOLs 2,147,418

original Filed com21, 195e 2 sheets-sheet 2 0 /00 200 300 40o 50o 500 WITNESSES: INVENTOR y M Wa/fn/azls.

ATTORN Patented Feb. 14, 1939 2,147,418 METHOD OF ASSEMBLING LEAD-IN CON- DUCTOR CASING SEALED THROUGH METALLIC Walter E, Bahls, Forest Hius, Pa., assignor w Westinghouse Electric &

Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania,

Original application October 21, 1936, Serial No.

Divided and this application February 20, 1937, Serial No. 126,880

1 Claim.

My invention relates to a vacuum-tight insulated lead-in construction and especially such construction applied to electron discharge de- Vices.

This application is a division of a parent application led October 21, 1936, Serial No. 106,798, for Vacuum-tight insulated lead-in structures.

An object of my invention is to provide a very strong vacuum-tight lead-in structure that will 0 withstand a great difference of pressure on opposite sides thereof.

Another object of the invention is to permit baking out or heat treatment of the apparatus without having the seals leak or collapse at temperatures where the glass may become soft.

Another object of my invention is to provide a Other objects and advantages of my invention Will become apparent from the following description and drawings, in which:

lFigure 1 is a view mainly in cross-section of a preferred application of my invention to a discharge device;

Fig. 2 is a view in cross-section of a modication of the lead-in construction of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a still further modication of the invention as applied to a discharge device; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are curves illustrating the unit expansion of preferred materials utilized in the preceding seal construction.

a very high temperature in order to degasify the interior elements. An extensive portion of the glass wall cannot be utilized with such heat treatglass will become and the metal Wall of the container that will provide a leakage path with the accumulation of dirt and moisture.

It is an object of my invention to utilize a ceramic material for the body of insulating material and to utilize a coating of glass to seal the ceramic material to the metal casing. I also contemplate using special forms by which the device will withstand pressure from within and without.

two porcelain sections (Cl. Z50-27.5)

culty because of the decomposition of the glass glaze. under the conditions for making the copper sweat joints. I have devised a structure in which the joints can be copper sweated and the parts cemented together with a high temperature cement or mechanically clamped. This structure is thus held rigidly in place while it is heated up to the temperature necessary to melt the copper or whatever metal may be necessary for the sweating process. After the sweating has been done, the glass may be put on to make the lead-in construction vacuum-tight.

In Fig.` 1y is disclosed a lead-in construction in which my invention is applied to the mercury pool type of discharge device. This device has a metal container Ill, and it is desired to have an insulated lead-in for the anode II through an opening I2 in the metal casing. I prefer to have the opening in a separate metal top I3 for ease in assembling. I place an insulator tube I4, preferably of porcelain, around the anode lead I5, and this porcelain tube preferably has extending through the opening an extension I 6 I2 to the interior terior portion of the anode lead tightly 'clamps the I4 and Il together about the opening I2 in thetop cover I3 of the tube. This arrangement is assembled The metal tubular extension 2| has av flange 23 resting upon the cover I3 making a joint 24 therewith. The cover I3 likewise has a joint 25 56 -In case it is desired to incr -preferably has with the main body of the casing l0. Likewise, the tubular part 2| about the auxiliary electrode connection |5 has a joint 26 with the metal casing. These metal joints are gether at the points 24, 25 and 26, preferably by the copper sweating process. The joint between the lead |5 and the metal piece 20 is also sweated. After this is done, the pocket formed by the extensions 21 of the interior metal portion 20 and the upper portion 28 of the flange or tubular extension 2| is filled with a glass material 23 to provide a vacuum-tight seal across the upper surface of the porcelain. This glass is preferably of the boro-silicate type of glass. This glass has a major percentage of silicon dioxide and also preferably has such silicon dioxide in an amount from 65% to '15%. This glass also has preferably less than PbO, less than 6% A1203, and 10% to B203. The particular type of glass that I prefer to use has the following analysis:

Per cent S102 67.3 B203 24.6 A1201 1.73 N320 4.6 Kzn .94 A5201 .14

ase .the creepage' distance between the metal portions 20 and 2|, an insulator 30 which may have any desired shape, suchas a form of a ring having a'. reversed bend, is sealed into the glass 29.

Since the temperature at which the junctions in the casing were sweated is well above the an-A nealing temperature of the glass, insertion of the glass in contact Ywith the ceramic insulator soon after'the joints are sweated makes it possible to complete the vacuum-tight glass seal before the assembly has cooled below said annealing` temper-ature, andY thereby makes it possible to complete the entire sweating and sealing of the casing zlvithout having to heat the assembly a second ime.

Fig.. 2 disclosesanother modication in which the porcelain section 3| is placed on lead-in 32 and enclosed in a celain section 34 is then placed on the lead-in and -cemented in position toshell 33.' The lead 32 a raised or ring portion 35upon which the two porcelain portions 3| and 34 clamp. The shell 33 preferably has the tapered ange 36 to maintain thelower porcelain section in position. I'heshell 33 is preferably of the nickelcobalt-iron alloy previously disclosed, and is preferably copper sweated at 31 to the container wall 38. The lead 32 or its collar, or both, is also preferably of the nickel-cobalt-iron alloy. Thereafter, iron shell is lled Awith asealing glass material 40 to provide a vacuum-tight seal between the anode lead 32 and the shell portion 33 which forms an extension of the metal casing. An interior electrode 4| is utilized according to the device to which theinvention is applied. In the present instance, an anode for a discharge device is illustrated.

Fig. 3 illustrates a type of device in which the lead-in combines all the features of mechanical clamping as well as the sealing of the metal, glass and porcelain. The metal casing 50, which, of course, may contain one or more pieces, has a tubular extension 5| welded 'or copper-sweated thereto. The anode lead-52 is provided with a ring 53-ther'eon.A 'I'he tubular section 5| has a constricted portion then sweated to-.

`posed of 30% feldspar,

A typical chemical analysis of a particular type of V tubular shell 33. The porstresses.

the upper portion 39 of the nickel-cobaltpered portion 55 similar in contour with the bottom 56 of a porcelain ring 51. This insulator 51 is placed around the lead-in 52 and the lead-in dropped in place after the porcelain is coated with -a glass sealing material. The lead-in construction is then heated and sealed together and the to'p porcelain ring 58 is put in place. While the structure is being heated, a tool is placed on top of the tubular extension 5| and spins or swages the upper portion 5S down over the top of the porcelain. The assembly is then permitted to cool and the glaze hardens or sets. The top portion need not be glazed.

I have previously described a preferred sealing metal as being a nickel-cobalt-iron alloy and.

boro-silicate type, be- A also the glass as being a cause these substances have a similar coefficient of expansion substantially inthe region of 4.6 to

7.0 x 10'-6 centimeters per degree centigrade. I also desire to utilize ceramic material such as porcelain of a substantially similar coefiicient of expansion. One such type of porcelain is com- 25% flint, and 45% clay.

Derry plastic body ing the unit expansion over a temperature range for the various preferred materials. Fig. 4 has'a curve for a special Derry body of porcelain 1n l which pyrophyllite was substituted for the flint in the Derry plastic body, whose curve is illustrated in Fig. 5.V

The metals, porcelains and glasses do not necessarily have to have the same coefficient of expanwill depend upon the exact type of glass, the temperature at which it is held, and how closely the various materials match in the higher temperature range. This time will,'in general, be from a' few minutes to four hours. The seal may then be rapidly cooled and only care taken that thermal gradients do not crack the porcelain.

The annealing range of the glass covers. the temperature region from the strain point to the annealing point. The strain point is defined as thattemperature at which practically all stresses (90% or better) are relieved in a period of four hours. The annealing point is dened as that. temperature at which practically all stresses are relieved in fteen minutes.

The porcelains and glasses are of brittle type materials which are stronger in compression than tension. It is accordingly desirable that the -metal should have a slightly higher unit expansion inthe annealing range so that after the seals The time required for this annealing this porcelain known as gives:

Per cent SiOz r10.97 A1203 23.15 FeaOs 0.39 TiOz 0.76 Can 0.12 MgO 0.14 NaaO 1.09 &O 3.30

In Figs. 4 and 5, I have disclosed curves showcontracts slightly more have been annealed vand are cooled, the metal than the porcelain and shown and described the invention applied to discharge tubes, many other applications of my invention are possible; such applications including bushing or lead-in for condensers, especially where. such bushings must be oil or alr-tight, electrical lead-in for hermetically sealed refrigerators, lead-in bushings for sealed oil-nlled transformers, lead-in for motors having a special cooling atmospherasuch as hydrogemetc. 'Ihislististobe takenasillustrative and not as a limiting list.

application of the various elements and combinations disclosed. I accordingly .desire only such limitations to be placed on the following claims' as `are necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

The method oi assembling a vacuum-tight insulated electrical lead-in construction in a metal casingv having unsealed Joints and a lead conductor which comprises assembling an insulating means more refractory thanglass in substantially l0 tlxedrelatlon to said casing and a conductor closing the joints of the metal casing vacuum-tight by heating the entire assembly beyond the annealing range of glass and then sealing said conductor and insulating means vacuum-tight by inserting sla-ss between said insulating means and a part of said casing and conductor while said assembly is still above the annealing range of WALTER EBAnLs. so

saidslass. 

